"Your Grace… can we talk for a moment?" Lilia gathered her courage and asked the duke to have a serious conversation with her.
Carlisle put down his cup and side-eyed Lilia. He knew what Lilia wanted to talk about, and he was utterly fed up with this topic of conversation. He wanted to think that Lilia was just joking with him at first, but after seeing how persistently she tried various approaches, he realized that Lilia was serious about her proposal.
"Don't you give up yet?"
"Never! I would never give up on you."
"Then the answer is still the same, no matter what you do, princess, it won't faze me."
"Just why? Don't you love me? You said you loved me, Duke.
"Princess, I never ever once said something like that, where did you get that delusion?"
"You said that, back there when I was 7 years old. "
"Seriously princess? Is that where it all begins? Your ridiculous proposal is because of that time?"
"No, Duke, my feelings for you developed later, but still... isn't it the same?"
"Listen here, princess... If you think the love I gave you when you were just 7 years old is that kind of love, you're wrong here. I love you as my daughter, you are the precious daughter of a friend of mine, and I've been taking care of you for quite some time. And for the kind of developing feeling you're talking about before, I believe that was nothing other than a weak, fleeting feeling that can sway easily. You don't have to consider that too serious, even sending a ridiculous marriage proposal to a man in his forties and the father of one of your friends on top of that."
The duke makes an angry and blunt comment that leaves her speechless. She feels like her overly fragile heart is pierced by the facts that the Duke has revealed.
"A weak, fleeting feeling that can sway easily... here you are, the one who's saying that I'm serious but not serious enough that you consider my feelings just a temporary attraction..." Lilia furrowed her brow, her body trembling slightly, and her hands were clenched tightly to hold back the tears that seemed to want to burst out because of the duke's words earlier. She chuckles.
Lilia approached the duke that sat across from her, and her expression looked pretty hurtful. She looked at the man in front of her with eyes that held back tears. The man in front of her was still firm, and his expression was calm and very authoritative, but it could be seen at a glance that his blue eyes were wavering. Duke averted his gaze, unable to look at Lilia.
"You always talked about this stupid feeling, that fool feeling, ridiculous this, ridiculous that, but... Duke, I beg you, are you, not holding any meaningful feelings towards me out of the doting father feeling?"
"Princess… I'll forever regard you as my daugh-"
"But I'm not!!"
"I'm not your daughter! We didn't have any blood ties, you just nursed me for a while, can you? just once… I beg you... Consider it again, please see me as a woman, not a child nor a daughter…"
"Why do you keep torturing me like this, Princess? What grudge do you have against me to make me tormented like this, I also beg you, princess... Please stop all of this ruckus already... aren't you tired of these futile hopes you harbor?"
"Torturing? Tormented? A futile hope? Hahaha…. That's how much you despise the idea of my love, your grace?"
"It's nothing about hate, lady. It's just..."
"Then, right here, right now, look at me in the eyes. And while saying my name, refuse my proposal without a doubtful word between them, say it!"
"Princess-"
"Lilia! It's Lilia, your grace. Did you forget my name? Just call me and refuse that so-called ridiculous proposal right now!"
Carlisle seems to have an inner debate with himself. He hesitates so much just to utter the sentence of rejection; he wants to stop this nightmare sooner. Part of his heart tells him just that, but another part stings so much just to imagine the face that the girl in front of him right now would make if he rejected her forever.
"Then what will we be if I reject that proposal here, right now?" he asks, staring down at anything but Lilia.
"Will you guarantee that nothing will change between us, princess?" He added with a tired smile framing his tired face.
"Between us, you say?"
"Was there anything between us from the beginning, Duke?" she asked back in a mocking tone.
"Your grace, you are just my friend's father and my father's acquaintance, what else would it be?"
"I'm not, princess. Did you truly consider me just as your friend's father and your father's acquaintance?"
"What else? It was always like that. nothing has changed even now; you always used that petty reason for rejecting the proposal, don't you?"
Carlisle smiled wryly; he knew that maybe after he said here firmly his rejection. Lilia's perspective on him would change, maybe Lilia would ignore him and would never greet him or look at him with a warm, loving gaze again.
He felt it was the best path for Lilia. He realized he was not a good guardian because Lilia said that her big decision to become a knight was because of him. He already felt guilty enough if it were true that he was the one who pushed the sweet girl to wipe her tears and raise her sword to protect her loved ones and had to take part in the sickening drama of the royal family.
He was sure that if his father was alive now or if her father knew what he had done by encouraging Lilia to make such a tough decision, he would be disappointed in him. He knew because Lilia's father raised her with great love. Duke Oldenburg tried to take over that role until her mother could accept the harsh reality, but his words had turned Lilia's path completely.
But amid his struggle, Carlisle can see and realize that Lilia has absolutely no regrets about the path she took, she is proud of it. Lilia showed him that losing someone precious can be a new source of strength to change her. In front of him now stands a mature woman, she may still look frivolous, but the prestige she carries as a knight is visible, and her pride as a Swordmaster who has been in the field of battle since young makes Lilia have her own charm.
He was well aware that the feelings expressed by Lilia were not entirely nonsense, but precisely because of that, he wanted Lilia to stop before falling deeper. So that he would not repeat the dark story of the past that could damage his relationship with the girl even more than this.
He took a deep breath, reassuring himself once again that this was, in his opinion, the best way out. He walked closer to Lilia, looking at the girl with uncanny composure. His face was expressionless, and his eyes were cold.
"I, Carlisle Oldenburg, hereby respond to the marriage proposal uttered by Lady Lilia Escheat a few weeks ago. I, as the subject of the proposal, solemnly declare that I firmly reject this proposal without any hidden motives and without any coercion from other parties." He spoke without breaking eye contact with Lilia.
"Thus, Princess Lilia Escheat, I refuse to get married to you, nor will I ever behold such compassion worthy of affection for you."
Lilia listened silently to the duke's statement. Her body trembled, but she tried to keep a straight face and a calm demeanor. The girl desperately kept her composure so that she wouldn't look pathetic in front of the man who had rejected her marriage proposal. She held her head high with pride.
She had to stay strong so that the duke wouldn't pity her. Lilia lowered her head briefly before looking up at the duke again and smiling with ease, even though her heart was screaming from being broken into pieces.
"That's better… It was unfortunate, but... what can I do? I apologize for any inconvenience you may have felt while I was trying to get a reply from you."
"I thank you for this great opportunity and today's invitation, have a good day, your grace," said Lilia, doing a little curtsey before leaving from there. The duke was just silent, not answering any more responses from Lilia earlier, but when Lilia turned around to leave the garden, he felt something odd about Lilia because all at once he saw those beautiful emerald eyes darken as if they had lost their will to live.
Meanwhile, all the commotion between Lilia and the Duke was seen by a girl who positioned herself next to the library window that led to the garden. Although she couldn't hear what the two people were talking about, the ginger girl knew that it wasn't a good thing. She immediately put down the book she had been holding and approached the two brothers, who were some distance away from her.
"Excuse me, young master, Luke, I think I've done reading for today; it was very pleasing, and I hope I get another opportunity again. I'd like to take my leave now." Evelyn tried to speak as politely as possible and gestured for Luke to escort her out of the library. The man takes Evelyn's small hand and guides her out while his brother still stays in place, staring at the ginger girl with uncertain looks.
When Luke and Evelyn arrive in front of the carriage, she used to come over and sense an incredibly disturbing aura emitted from the inside, so Luke steps back from getting too close. He tilted his tall body to whisper to Evelyn.
"Something happens?"
"I'm not sure, but it's not a good thing, I think."
"I can see that. Good luck."
"Will do. Thank you for escorting me here and... Accompanying me at the library." Evelyn blushed slightly while thanking Luke. The man cleared his throat to get rid of his awkwardness.
"Tell me if anything happens," he said. Evelyn just nodded and got into the carriage and left the mansion.
Evelyn didn't say anything while on the carriage, and seeing how quiet her best friend was, she knew things weren't going well. She would just shut up and let her best friend be for a while. In silence, her hand grasped the strong, slender hand tightly. A silent comfort she can offer now.